Going Outside the Box to Push List Rental Revenue

How looking beyond magazine publishers as list buyers helps Ziff Davis Media stay afloat in the economic downturn.

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
Monday, March 2, 2009

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Since moving its list management to another company last year, Ziff Davis Media has been on the rebound. Within the first 30 days of being at its new home, list rental revenue was up 15 percent and has been maintaining that pace ever since. “Much of the reason for that are the strengths and relationships our manager has in the b-to-b, technology, finance and consumer sectors,” says Charles Mast, president of Mast Circulation Group, who oversees Ziff Davis Media’s circulation functions.

Ziff Davis Media has over 5 million names spread out over approximately one dozen lists, according to Mast, and they are expected to grow even more in terms of revenue. “We’ve built databases and data warehouses and used other money saving and data enrichment techniques, like data and email append, to boost selections and revenue,” Mast says. “Our tests and continuations have been growing too.”

Mast says that the company has been able to identify new segments of the lists that have allowed for more selectability resulting in an increase in new tests of the files. “We’ve been marketing the lists to major technology marketers,” he says. “These guys are still prospecting when many other magazine and periodical publishers aren’t. You have to go outside the box.”

Going Outside Your Comfort Zone

The more traditional and known mailers, he added, are still renting Ziff Davis properties, but success right now is found outside the comfort zone. On the other hand, although the company is up in test and revenues, the sluggish economy is still a factor. “I think we could be up even further if the economy weren’t so bad,” he says. “But when this economy rebounds, Ziff Davis should be poised to grow even further.”